NEWS: Makers Of ‘Sesame Street’ Launch Lawsuit At Production Company Of New Melissa McCarthy Film

Today is brought to you by the letter “L”…seen in the words Legal and Lawsuit.

Last week we posted the trailer for the new Melissa McCarthy film, The Happytime Murders, and talked about how outrageously hilarious it looked. Well, the makers of Sesame Street were definitely not laughing. In the film’s trailer, we are shown a world where puppets have sex, use foul language. and even commit murder. McCarthy plays Detective Edwards who is partnered with the puppet, Detective Phil Phillips, as the pair must find who is responsible for the murders of the cast of “The Happytime Gang.” Through the trailer, we are shown a bunch of filthy jokes, puppet hookers, and even puppet ejaculation. It was all of those things in conjunction with the film’s tagline “No Sesame. All Street,” that seemed to really ruffle the fur of the makers of Sesame Street. In a public statement the Sesame Workshop said:

“We take no issue with the creative freedom of the filmmakers and their right to make and promote this movie, rather this is about how our name is being misused to market a film with which we have no association.”

On Thursday, May 24th, the Sesame Workshop filed a lawsuit against STX Films in an attempt to have the film use “corrective advertising.” The Sesame Workshop feels that the trailer, which demonstrated “profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating, and even ejaculating puppets,” along with the tagline, tarnishes the Sesame Street brand. Before the trailer debuted, The Workshop reached out to STX to ask them to remove the tagline, but that request was denied.

STX Films has made it clear that while the puppets used in the film are from the Jim Henson Company, they have no correlation to the puppets from The Muppets or Sesame Street. In a counter statement they said:

“While we’re disappointed that ‘Sesame Street’ does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer.”

It looks like this situation can not be remedied by a few puppets singing about conflict resolution. We will stay tuned to see if STX makes any adjustments to their marketing, and if any of this hubbub will affect box office sales. The trailer is posted below, so take a look and decide what side of the suit you stand on.

AWWW: A Rescue Team Of 9 Was Needed To Rescue 1 Adorably Chubby Rat

Over in Bensheim, Germany a rotund rodent got herself into a jam when she tried to squeeze through a hole of a manhole cover only to get stuck…and honestly, I can relate. When I was 8 years old I tried to squeeze my thunder-thighs-in-training into a children’s swing and it took my dad and three other grown men to get me out. I am the German fat-rat!

Volunteer firefighters were called when a young girl noticed the fat rat was stuck and no time was wasted to help the poor critter. Eight firefighters and at least one animal rescuer appeared on the scene to safely extract the chubby critter. Animal rescuer Michael Sehr told BBC “She had a lot of winter flab and was stuck fast at her hip. There was no going forward or back.” When asked why anyone would even want to save something so many are repulsed by Sehr said “Even animals that are hated by many deserve respect.”

Alls well that ends well! Hopefully no authorites will be needed to help me shimmy out of these skinny jeans I thought looked cute this morning…in the meantime, check out the entire rescue below!

Elton John And Taron Egerton Performed A Fantastic Duet Of ‘Tiny Dancer’

The dancer may be tiny but the talent on stage was massive! Taron Egerton and Elton John gave a fantastic performance of “Tiny Dancer” last night at the 27th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party.

If you’ve been looking for a reason to toss on your bedazzled cape and brightly colored sunglasses then boy do I have good news for you. An “epic musical fantasy” about Elton John’s life, entitled Rocketman, is expected to hit theaters in May 2019. Taron Egerton, from Robin Hood fame, plays the musical legend and judging by his performance last night, we are all in for a treat. The audience of the charity event felt like a candle in the wind when Taron suggested an off-the-cuff performance of “Tiny Dancer.” There isn’t even a pun creative enough to embody what the audience must have felt when Elton John himself volunteered to accompany Taron on the piano!

In addition to a truly moving performance, the 27th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party raised more than $6.3 million for an effort to end AIDS.

Click below to take a look at the magical performance from last night!

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VIRAL: There Is No Room For Love When This Dog Protects His Barney

I think this dog missed the whole “I love you, you love me” message Barney was trying to teach all those years ago…

In this viral video posted to Twitter, an adorable pup channels his inner Cujo anytime his owner gets close to the Barney the Dinosaur stuffed animal. While the frenzied attacks are comical in themselves, this video should definitely be played with the sound up. While we never see more than the dog owner’s hand, we hear his high pitched screams of terror every time the dog take a lunge.